Genesis, Creation, and Early Man: The Orthodox Christian Vision

Second Edition

Fr. Seraphim RoseEdited by Hieromonk Damascene

“This book, compiled and published posthumously, represents one of the most important achievements in the life of the revered Orthodox writer Fr. Seraphim Rose. It is an exhaustive collection of all the relevant material—from manuscripts, transcriptions of tape-recorded lectures, and letters—that Fr. Seraphim produced on the subject of Genesis and creation over the course of nine years, until his repose in 1982. Broad in scope and rich in detail, it can serve as a source book and an invaluable reference for students of Orthodox Patristic teaching.”—“Editor’s Preface: The Story behind the Book”

CONTENTS

AbbreviationsNotes on CitationsEditor’s Preface: The Story behind the Book 1. The Intellectual Milieu of Fr. Seraphim’s Formative Years 2. From the Evolutionary Worldview to the Orthodox Worldview 3. The Roots of Evolutionism 4. The Mind of the Holy Fathers 5. Evolution and Chiliasm 6. The Holy Fathers on Genesis 7. Alexander Kalomiros 8. The Scientific Side of the Question 9. The “Survival Course” and the Courses of Genesis 10. The Plan of Book 11. Developments in the 1980s 12. Phillip E. Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement 13. Evidence from Genetics 14. A Turning of the Tide 15. Developments in Russia 16. A Comparison of Orthodox and Protestant Scientists Who Uphold the Biblical View 17. The Present Book 18. This Book’s Primary Contribution 19. A Spiritual Awareness of Original Incorruption 20. The Original Nature of ManA Note on the Second EditionIntroduction: Fr. Seraphim Rose and Twenty-First-Century Scienceby Phillip E. Johnson 1. The Mechanism of Evolution: Mutation and Selection 2. The Common Ancestry Thesis 3. Evolution (in the Scientific Sense) Is Inherently Godless 4. Conclusion: Can Science Tell Us a True Story About Origins?PART IAN ORTHODOX PATRISTIC COMMENTARY ON GENESISEditor’s NoteForeword: Why Study the Book of Genesis?Chapter One: How to Read Genesis 1. Approach 2. The Holy Fathers: Our Key to the Understanding of Genesis 3. Basic Principles of Our Approach to Understanding Genesis 4. Literal vs. Symbolical Interpretations 5. The Nature of the TextChapter Two: The Six Days of Creation (General Observations) 1. Introduction 2. General Remarks about the Six Days 3. Why Six Days?Chapter Three: The Six Days (Day by Day) 1. The First Day (Genesis 1:1—5) 2. The Second Day (Genesis 1:6—8) 3. The Third Day (Genesis 1:9—13) 4. The Fourth Day (Genesis 1:14—19) 5. The Fifth Day (Genesis 1:20—23) 6. The Sixth Day (Genesis 1:24—31) 7. The Seventh Day (Genesis 2:1—3)Chapter Four: The Creation of Man (Genesis 1:26—31, 2:4—7)Chapter Five: Paradise (Genesis 2:8—24)Chapter Six: The Fall of Man (Genesis 3:1—24)Chapter Seven: Life outside Paradise (Genesis 4:1—6:5) 1. The Banishment of Adam 2. Cain and Abel 3. The Genealogy from Adam through Seth to Noah 4. The Corruption of MankindChapter Eight: The Flood (Genesis 6:6—8:22)Chapter Nine: The Dispersion of the Peoples (Genesis 9:1—11:26) 1. Noah and God’s New Covenant 2. The Generations of Noah 3. The Tower of BabelChapter Ten: Questions and Answers 1. The Age of the Earth 2. Carbon-14 Dating 3. Geological Strata 4. A Matter of Models 5. The Origin of the Heavenly Bodies (Patristic Cosmogony) 6. Creation Scientists 7. Various Evolutionary Ideas 8. The Limits of Biological Change 9. “Human Evolution” 10. The Limits of Scientific Inquiry 11. The Biblical Chronology 12. The Preexistence of Souls, “Reincarnation,” and Evolution 13. The Nature of Paradise 14. Free Will 15. The Creation of Adam and Eve 16. The Mind of Adam 17. Paradise and Heaven 18. The Devil 19. Christ’s Spiritual Body 20. The Firmament 21. The “Location” of Paradise 22. Between the Fall and the Flood 23. The Flood 24. Patristic Interpretation vs. Modern “Higher” Criticism 25. The Age of the Patriarchs 26. Different InterpretationsPART IITHE PATRISTIC DOCTRINE OF CREATION Editor’s Note 1. Evolution as Philosophy 2. A Clear Definition 3. Development, Not Evolution 4. How Do the Holy Fathers Interpret Genesis? 5. “The Bondage of Corruption” (Romans 8:21) 6. Divine Vision 7. The Nature of ManPART IIITHE PHILOSOPHY OF EVOLUTIONChapter One: Science and the Holy Fathers 1. True Theology and Secular Knowledge 2. Science and Christian Philosophy 3. Distinguishing Materialistic Fantasies from Scientific Truth 4. Science as a Lower Form of Knowledge 5. An Alien System of Thought 6. The Lack of Philosophical Culture among Orthodox Christians 7. The Philosophy of the Holy FathersChapter Two: A Brief Critique of the Evolutionary Model 1. Introduction 2. Historical Background 3. “Proofs” of Evolution 4. The Theory of Evolution Is Understandable Philosophically 5. Scientific Faith 6. The Conflict between Christian Truth and Evolutionary PhilosophyChapter Three: “Christian Evolutionism” 1. Introduction 2. Pierre Lecomte du Noüy 3. Fr. Anthony Kosturos 4. Karl Rahner 5. Stephanus Trooster 6. The Roman Catholic View of Original Man 7. Theodosius Dobzhansky 8. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 9. The Chiliasm of Teilhard de Chardin 10. Teilhardism in the Light of Orthodoxy 11. “Orthodox” Followers of Teilhard de ChardinPART IVSELECTIONS FROM LETTERS 1. A Key in the Program of Anti-Christianity 2. Theistic Evolution 3. A Rival Thought-Pattern to Orthodoxy 4. A Deep-Seated Primordial Force 5. The Argument against Evolution Is Not Scientific but Theological 6. The Real Intellectual Problems of Today 7. Such “Theology” We Do Not Need 8. A Product of the “Spirit of the Times” 9. Looking Forward with an Open Mind 10. Quibbling over Words 11. The Holy Fathers as the Answer to Medieval Scholasticism 12. The Philosophy of the Age 13. At Last the Real Battle Begins 14. Love for the Holy Fathers 15. The Power of This World and Its Fashionable Ideas 16. Unknowingly Harboring “Modern Ideas” 17. Genuine Science 18. Clearing Up Confusion 19. The Genealogy of Christ 20. The Larger Idea of Naturalism 21. Scientists Who Question Evolution 22. Avoiding One-Sidedness 23. Three Axioms 24. Notes from a Dialogue on Evolution 25. Clergy in Greece against “Orthodox Evolutionism” 26. People Are Ready to Hear ThisPART VNOTES AND OUTLINESChapter One: Notes on Science, Evolution, and Christian Philosophy 1. The Incorruption of the First-Created World 2. Science and the Question of Incorruption 3. Evolution and “Cosmic Religion” 4. The “Mysticism” of Teilhard de Chardin 5. Evolution as the Exact Opposite of Christianity 6. Why Orthodox Christians Should Not Be Indifferent to Evolution 7. Paleontology and “Ivory-Tower Orthodoxy’ 8. Which Interpretation of the Fossil Record Makes God a Deceiver? 9. Man as Qualitatively Different from Animals 10. The Roman Catholic Idea of the State of Adam (according to Fr. Michael Pomazansky) 11. An “Inferiority Complex” among Christians 12. What Kind of Simple-Minded Fools Are We? 13. For the “Orthodox Evolutionist,” Where Does History Begin and Fables Leave Off? 14. The Old Testament Chronology 15. The Missing EvidenceChapter Two: Outlines of Proposed Studies 1. Evolution 2. Patristic SectionAfterword: Fr. Seraphim’s Last Talk on Creation and EvolutionAppendix One: Created in Incorruption—The Orthodox Patristic Understanding of Man and the Cosmos in Their Original, Fallen, and Redeemed Statesby the editor I. INTRODUCTION II. THE ORIGINAL CONDITION OF MAN 1. Man’s Spiritual Condition before the Fall 2. Man’s Physical Condition before the Fall 3. Desire and Pleasure before the Fall 4. The Condition of Man’s Mind before the Fall 5. St. Maximus on Man’s Original Condition 6. St. Maximus and St. Symeon on What Might Have Been III. THE ORIGINAL CONDITION OF THE COSMOS 1. Patristic Accounts of the Cosmos before the Fall 2. Animals before the Fall 3. The Unknowability of the World before the Fall 4. Man’s Calling to Deify the Cosmos IV. THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL ON MAN 1. The Corruption of Human Nature 2. The Loss of Grace: Spiritual Death 3. Physical Suffering, Death, and Decay 4. The Change in Man’s Physical Condition 5. Sexual Procreation 6. The Condition of Man’s Soul after Death 7. The Change in Human Nature 8. The Commonality of Human Nature as It Relates to the Fall V. THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL ON THE COSMOS 1. The Dependence of the Cosmos on Man 2. Subjected in Hope VI. “BY MAN CAME DEATH” 1. Death Is Not from God 2. The Devil’s Role 3. Is Death “Natural”? 4. St. Gregory Palamas on the Cause of Death and Illness 5. Why God Allowed the Entrance of Death and Suffering VII. THE REDEMPTION AND DEIFICATION OF MAN AND THE COSMOS 1. “Trampling Down Death by Death” 2. The Commonality of Human Nature as It Relates to Redemption 3. The Order of Redemption (I): Spiritual Resurrection 4. The Order of Redemption (II): Physical Resurrection 5. The Restoration of Incorruption 6. The Permanent Deification of Man and the Cosmos VIII. THE ORTHODOX DOCTRINE OF PRELAPSARIAN INCORRUPTION AS IT RELATES TO ORTHODOX SOTERIOLOGY AND ESCHATOLOGY IX. A COMPARISON OF THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN AND EVOLUTIONIST WORLDVIEWS X. THE PERSONAL RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION OF THE ORTHODOX TEACHINGAppendix Two: Modern Saints and Elders on Evolutionismby the editor 1. St. Ambrose, Elder of Optina 2. St. Theophan the Recluse, Bishop of Tambov 3. St. John of Kronstadt 4. St. Barsanuphius, Elder of Optina 5. Holy Hieromartyr Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky), Metropolitan of Kiev and Gallich 6. St. Nectarios (Kephalas), Metropolitan of Pentapolis and Wonderworker of Aegina 7. Holy Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky), Archbishop of Verey 8. Holy Hieromartyr Thaddeus (Uspensky), Archbishop of Tver 9. Holy Hieromartyr Varlaam (Nikol’sky), Holy Hieromartyr Nicholas Pokrovsky, Holy Hiero-confessor Gabriel (Igoshkin), and Holy Hieromartyr Paul Andreyev 10. St. Nikolai (Velimirovich), Bishop of Zica 11. Schema-Abbot John (Alekseyev), Elder of Valaam 12. Holy Hiero-confessor Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), Archbishop of Simferopol 13. St. Justin (Popovich) of Celije 14. Elder Paisius (Olaru) of Sihastria and Sihla 15. Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex 16. Elder Paisios (Eznepidis) of Mount Athos 17. Fr. George CalciuAppendix Three: Biological Evidence and the Neo-Darwinian Paradigmby Yuri Zharikov, Ph.D. 1. Two Models 2. The Theory of Evolution 3. What Is a Scientific Theory? 4. What Does the Theory of Evolution Predict? 5. “Facts” of Evolution; or, Can the Predictions Be Upheld? 6. Conclusions 7. Kicking against the PricksAppendix Four: The Age of the Earth and the Rate of Geological Processesby Alexander Lalomov, Ph.D. 1. Introduction 2. Radioisotope Dating 3. Checking Radioisotope Dating 4. Possible Reasons for Large Concentrations of Daughter Isotopes 5. The Rate of Sedimentation Processes 6. The Rate of Formation of Mineral Resources 7. Paleontology and Stratigraphy 8. ConclusionSuggested Resourcesby the editor I. PATRISTIC SOURCES II. SCIENTIFIC SOURCES 1. Critiques of Biological Evolutionism 2. On “Human Evolution” 3. On the History of Darwinism 4. On the Age of the Earth 5. On the Dinosaurs 6. On the Flood 7. On Astronomy and Cosmology 8. For the Education of Young PeopleSaints and Early Church Writers Cited in the Present BookNotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsScripture IndexIndex of Works by Saints and Early Church WritersGeneral Index